Frozen strawberries are a great addition to your cooking as they offer nutritional benefits and can add a fun taste to your dishes. These berries can also offer health benefits including improving gut and heart health and weight management. Here are some tips to follow when cooking with frozen strawberries from your local strawberry picker:
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Don’t Thaw the Berries
You may be tempted to remove your berries from the freezer before you start cooking for easy access, but you shouldn’t. Frozen berries contain a lot of moisture, which seeps out when you leave them exposed to the average room temperature. Using thawed berries in your cooking isn’t ideal since the excess moisture can prevent your bread from rising or make your muffins too dense.
Letting the moisture stay in the berries can make your dish juicier and more delicious. Keep your strawberries in the freezer until you’ve prepared all your other ingredients.
Taste the Berries Before Using Them
Preparing a dish that’s too sweet, sour, or bland can be frustrating. Aim to get the taste right to make your dish delectable and flavorful. You can do this by tasting a few frozen berries before using them.
Frozen berries can be tart, overly sweet, or perfectly balanced. You can stick to your recipe if your berries have the perfect balance of sweet and sour. Make recipe adjustments if they’re too tart or too sweet—use more sugar if they are tart and less sugar if they’re too sweet.
Coat the Berries With Flour
Frozen berries contain moisture, so they may be heavier than some of your other ingredients if you’re baking. They may sink to the bottom as your baked goods cook, leaving you with a layered dish instead of an evenly distributed one.
You can prevent this by placing your strawberries in a small amount of flour before adding them to your batter. The flour will absorb moisture as your dish bakes, keeping the berries in place. This way, your guests can enjoy the yummy taste of strawberries in every bite.
Use Thickeners
You may end up with a watered-down batter if you use frozen strawberries. The extra water in frozen berries requires you to use a thickener in your batter.
Popular choices include flour, arrowroot, and cornstarch. Increase the amount of thickener you’d typically use with fresh strawberries to keep your dish from getting soggy.
Bake Your Dish for Longer
Frozen strawberries will make your batter colder than fresh strawberries since they’re coated with ice. The colder the batter, the longer it’ll take to cook.
You can improve your chances of creating the perfect dish by adding a few minutes to your regular cooking time. The extra minutes account for the time it takes a cold batter to warm to normal temperature. Check whether your dish is ready before pulling it out of the oven to confirm it’s baked to perfection.
Skip the Crust When Baking a Pie
Using a top pie crust when baking with frozen strawberries isn’t ideal, as it can trap the extra moisture in your dish, leaving it soggy. Keep your pie open to allow steam to evaporate when cooking. Make a lattice crust if you must have one—moisture can evaporate through the cutouts.
Get Strawberries From Your Local Strawberry Picker
You can become more creative with your dishes by using frozen strawberries instead of fresh ones. Frozen strawberries can make your food tastier and promote your health and wellness.
Choose the best local strawberry picker to supply you with quality and tasty strawberries for your next dish. Follow the tips discussed in this article to make a delicious strawberry-filled recipe for all to enjoy.
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